The Starving Time, Elizabeth's Jamestown Colony Diary (Book #2)

Title: The Starving Time, Elizabeth’s Jamestown Colony Diary (Book #2)

Author: Patricia Hermes

Genre: Non-fiction, informational, diversity, biography

Summary: Elizabeth is losing her friends, Captain Smith and Jessie because she is left behind in Jamestown and they are on the ship returning to England. This is her second diary. In her first, she wrote about what happened in Jamestown and it was for her twin brother, Caleb, who is in England. She had hoped that her friends would visit him, and they agreed to it. She felt sad because her journal was her friend, but Captain Smith sent a sailor to a small shallop and got her a new diary. Elizabeth thinks of her journal as her friend because she is lonely. She sailed from England in nine ships with hopes for land. Some ships were lost in a hurricane, but not hers, called the Blessing. She came with mama and papa, but Caleb stayed behind in England because his lungs are weak so he was coming the next spring. Elizabeth and her family live in a fort surrounded by tall, wooden walls. She has a good friend named Pocahontas, who is Indian. She is eleven and Elizabeth is nine. Sometimes, the Indians attack so it was frightening. Elizabeth has a baby sister, Abigail. That was a happy time for them, but it’s also sad because they are lonely. Elizabeth misses Caleb and Jessie. She is determined to be brave and make a new friend. First secret: one person who could be Elizabeth’s friend is a boy named Francis Collier. She doesn’t like him the way Mary Dobson likes John Bridger. John is mean and tried to take her diary once but she kicked him in the shins. Secret code: clumping the words together with no spaces so nobody else can read her diary. Elizabeth and Jessie didn’t particularly like Mary Dobson, but one day, Elizabeth went to the well that she had always gone to with Jessie and she started to cry. Mary came over and was very comforting. Elizabeth had second thoughts about her. There is a girl named Amelia Quick, whose mother died during the ocean crossing, so she is busy being a mother to her siblings, so Elizabeth doesn’t think she could have a friendship with her. Since Captain Smith left, there are new leaders-Gabriel Archer, George Percy, John Ratcliffe and others. Elizabeth doesn’t like Gabriel Archer. Elizabeth wasn’t fond of any of them because they always had to fight about something. They just didn’t compare to Captain Smith. Elizabeth became friends with Mary and decided that a lesson was learned-don’t judge people before you know them. Each night, Elizabeth sends thoughts to Caleb because it is hard for her to be away from her twin for so long. She tells him about Abigail and everything. She and her dad built a house that has one big room. It is different from England, but it feels more like their normal house, and that night, they laid a fire on the hearth and talked about Caleb coming, which made Elizabeth happy. Second secret: Elizabeth hates the Bridger family. She gets annoyed at the little brothers because they annoy her. Captain Smith was fair to the Indians and the same for them in return. Times are different now. There is a lot of steeling going on for food, and one morning, four of their men went to search for food and didn’t come back until the next morning. Two of them came back, injured and two were dead. Master Badger was one of the injured. Secret code: “Ididnotfeelbad.” Food became scarcer and Elizabeth was hungry. One day, Francis came and sat with Elizabeth, helping her shape cups. Before they knew it, they were both talking about food. Elizabeth’s father was disappointed at her because she was disrespectful for Mistress Bridger but she “wasnotsorry.” Abigail’s cries began to sound weak, and the whole family is very hungry. Papa was going to the forest to try and find food, and he and mama were letting Elizabeth go. They went and returned safely with food and without seeing any Indians! Papa caught three fish and Elizabeth found dried corncobs. For the first time in weeks, Elizabeth went to sleep with a full stomach. While they were sleeping, a theft went into their house and the next morning when they woke up, the fish stew was gone and so was the corn soup. Elizabeth just knows that it was the Badger family because they ate silently around their fire. They still had some food left over. Mary wanted to marry John Bridger, but they were far too young. One night, Mary asked if Elizabeth would be her look out because she isn’t allowed to be alone with a boy but she was going to meet John by the well. Elizabeth said yes, but she was uneasy about it. Joh didn’t show up. Now they both hate the Bridger family. Elizabeth realized that she hadn’t seen Pocahontas since Captain Smith had left, and she was upset because they were great friends. She wanted to follow the river to go visit her. One day, after it had rained, Elizabeth saw her mother go outside and pick up a few worms and eat them. She was so hungry. Elizabeth became afraid. Papa organized the new leaders in a search party for food. They went into the woods and brought back a bear. The whole community of about one hundred families shared it. Everyone was happier when they weren’t hungry, even the Bridger’s. Now it was December and Elizabeth was wondering if she was going to have Christmas, or a Christmas dinner. She and Mary decided that no matter what, they would have Christmas. On December 4^th, they had their first snow and the nights were very cold now. In the village, there is a sick house and mama goes there to help the people who are ill, but Elizabeth stays back and cares for Abigail. She is worried that her mama might catch a disease. Elizabeth and Mary wanted to give Christmas presents out so they had some canvas and decided to make things with it. Papa hasn’t noticed Elizabeth in weeks because he has been so distracted. His special name for her, Sweet Beth, hasn’t been said in a long time. He will notice her when she gives him a present. Elizabeth’s friend, Amelia Quick, her sister died and now Elizabeth is worried about Abigail. Amelia won’t bury her baby sister. She still holds onto her. Papa went over to Amelia, said a few words to her, and she let him take little Sarah. Now, Amelia follows Elizabeth everywhere she goes. When Elizabeth was making her acorn dish and cup, Amelia was sitting with her looking at them. That night, Elizabeth noticed that some of them were gone. Maybe she dropped them. One day, Elizabeth and papa went to the Colliers’ cabin to help them patch their roof. Francis went along and told Elizabeth stories, which are always about food. The next day, Elizabeth felt sick. Her mother said it could have been from the crabs because they may have kept them for too long. Now, Abigail is so sick. And So is mama. Papa is still well and he now calls his daughter Sweet Beth. Mary Dobson is sick now, too. The next day, Elizabeth feels a little better, but she is still very weak. Elizabeth told papa she wanted to go see Pocahontas, because her father was good to him. Papa said it wasn’t safe to approach the Powhatans right then, and Elizabeth said she thought she was about to disobey her father for the first time. Mama began to feel better, but she still had a cough. Abigail was very weak and Elizabeth is recovering slowly. She received a note from Mary saying “I think that I might live. Will you?” The next day, papa and other men went to find food because they thought it was safe for they hadn’t seen Indians in weeks. The next day, papa still hadn’t returned. Five people died overnight from the sickness. Papa and the men returned with fish the next day. For dinner, they had some fish and a handful of dried berries but they saved a lot of it. By eating, Elizabeth felt stronger. The girls continued working on their Christmas presents. Before they knew it, the bells rang at midnight, for the first time in weeks. The first thing that Elizabeth did when she woke up was send thoughts to Caleb, wishing him a joyous Christmas and telling him that she couldn’t wait to see him. Christmas morning arrived and mama and papa had gifts! Papa made Elizabeth a tiny whistle from a reed and mama gave her a slender red ribbon. Mama also had a small meal for them: thin fish broth and a bit of dried cornmeal made into patties with roasted acorns. Abigail was weak and didn’t even cry anymore. Everyone was worried about her. On New Year’s, Elizabeth went to her hidden place by the well and Mary came, crying. She sat down next to her and told her that her mother died. She didn’t feel well, so she went into bed and she died.

*Elizabeth lost track of what day it was*

Both men and women start to leave the fort. They might go live with the Indians, but they don’t return. It’s a long way until spring. Nobody is in charge anymore and there are no meetings or workdays. Elizabeth hopes to make it until Caleb comes. She hasn’t seen Francis or Mary in a few days, but mama said that Francis was ill and he was in the sick shed and Mary hasn’t recovered well from her mother passing. One day, Elizabeth was by the well and she saw a very thing girl standing there. It was Mary! She didn’t even recognize her because she looked so thin and wispy. The next day, Elizabeth decided she was going to go to the Indian village and friend Pocahontas. She was disobeying papa and she knew he would be very angry. The girls agreed that if Elizabeth wasn’t back by night fall, then Mary could tell mama and papa what she did. That night, Elizabeth slept in the forest and felt very ill again. When she woke up, there was a loaf of bread next to her. She ate some, and was on her way. She wasn’t at the village yet but she felt very ill. Elizabeth sat down to rest, and then she saw two Indian men staring at her. She knew one of them. They told her to follow them, so she did. She was full of hope. They brought her back to her fort and tricked her! She was so disappointed that she didn’t see Pocahontas. Elizabeth didn’t remember much from her journey. When she was walking with the Indians, she felt something hit her on the head, and she thinks one of the men caught her. He carried her back to her fort and then told papa to look outside the gate. There was fish and bread out there-enough! Elizabeth hasn’t seen her mama in days because she is at the sick shed. Papa tells her that she cannot go, even though her friends and mama are there. Elizabeth is still sick and papa said she needs her rest for just one more day. Mistress Whistler comes during the day to nurse Abigail. Elizabeth waits for her dad to do work, and she decides to disobey him again and go to the sick shed to see mama, Francis and Mary. Elizabeth goes and sees that mama isn’t helping the ill. She is ill! Many people are dying. All of the Bridger boys have died. Papa went to the sick shed and found Elizabeth there. He almost got angry at her, because he couldn’t lose both of them. Mama doesn’t even know that her daughter is there with her. Francis remains very ill, as does Amelia. Amelia’s twin brothers have died and her papa too. Elizabeth sat by Francis and gave him sips of water. He kept looking up at the ceiling, so Elizabeth looked up with him but she didn’t see anything. When she looked back down at him, he was gone. He died in that moment. The smell of spring was in the air, but for some reason, that made Elizabeth upset. She and Mary found a note left by someone saying to leave where they were but they didn’t know who wrote it. Elizabeth didn’t want to do that because then Caleb would come and she wouldn’t be there. Mama died the next day. Elizabeth was sitting with Mary and they saw a ship in the water, but then it disappeared. It reappeared again and Elizabeth was calling for Caleb. He was on that ship! A month later, Elizabeth writes again, saying that Caleb was there and they had food, but she was still upset that mama was dead. In August, it is one year that they first set foot on the land. The church bells rings every day at midnight now and they have built a house-a home-in Jamestown. Now, they are at home in America, and now, they hear children laughing from their fort.

Characters: Abigail, Elizabeth, mama, papa, Francis, Mary, Caleb, Mistress Whistler, the Bridger’s, Amelia Quick, Captain Smith, Pocahontas, the Indians

Plot: Elizabeth is trying to take care of her mama and her sister, as they are sick, and wait for her twin brother, Caleb to come to Jamestown. At this point, they are fighting for their survival.

Theme: Poverty

Setting: Jamestown

Opinion; I liked reading this book, and I enjoyed how it was a journal and it was kept daily. It was cool to hear Elizabeth’s story and it definitely showed what hardships she needed to get through. She acted like a mother for a good part of the book, and she learned not to judge people by what they look they. She also learned that people could be gone within the blink of an eye, literally, so she had to cherish the moments she had with everyone she met there.